Cooking

During Discovery play many of us love to get our hands dirty by cooking in the kitchen and opening the Pod 1 cafe.

Many of our dishes have ingredients straight from our school garden or other local gardens.

ANZAC Biscuits

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)

1 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

(1/4 cup) caster sugar

125g butter

2 tablespoons golden syrup

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Step 1 Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
Step 2 Combine flour, oats, coconut and combined sugar in a large bowl.
Step 3 Stir the butter, golden syrup and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda. Add to the oat mixture and stir until well combined.
Step 4 Roll level tablespoonfuls of the oat mixture into balls and place, about 5cm apart, on the prepared trays. Flatten until about 1cm thick. Bake, swapping trays halfway through cooking, for 15 minutes or until light golden. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients:

150g softened butter

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 3/4 cups plain flour

1 cup milk choc chips

Method:

Step 1 Preheat oven to 180C or 160C fan-force. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugars and vanilla for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and well combined. Beat in egg until combined.

Step 2 Stir in flour in two batches. Stir in dark and milk choc bits. Roll 2 level tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls and place on prepared trays, 3cm apart. Press down slightly. Decorate with extra choc bits.

Step 3 Bake for 15-18 minutes or until light golden and cooked. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container OR eat them all up

Plum Jam

Ingredients:

Method:

Step 1 Place water and plums into large stockpot and bring to a simmer for 25 minutes.

Step 2 Add sugar, and stir until dissolved, turn it up to boil for about 25- 30 minutes, check if it has set by dolloping a little bit on a cold plate (try putting a saucer in the freezer to cool it). If it sticks like jelly and doesn’t move, its set!

Problem is now we have lots of plum jam and are not sure what to do with it…

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Jam Drops

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 egg

190g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour

Plain flour, to dust

115g (1/3 cup) strawberry or raspberry jam 1/3 cup plum jam

Step 1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Use an electric beater to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a medium bowl until pale and creamy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Sift flour over the butter mixture and stir until combined.

Step 2 Use lightly floured hands to roll teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls. Place on the prepared trays, about 5cm apart. Use a lightly floured finger to make an indentation in the centre of each ball. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the centre of each biscuit.

Step 3 Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, swapping trays halfway through cooking, or until the biscuits are cooked through and light golden. Remove biscuits from the oven. Set aside on trays for 30 minutes to cool completely.